Five Ways To Improve Your Nutrition

As a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, I am all about finding the most simple and sustainable ways to reach your health and fitness goals. Nutrition does not need to be complicated, but I can understand how sometimes it can feel slightly overwhelming with the amount of information we have access to, whether that be the latest diets, supplements or nutrition tests!

So let’s get back to the basics with nutrition and look at five simple ways that you can implement today that will help boost the nutritional value of your diet (daily intake, not necessarily a prescribed plan).

DRINK MORE WATER

Water aids digestion by helping to break down foods, aiding absorption, and preventing constipation.

It helps you to know when you're actually hungry, our body often confuses thirst and hunger signals, or knows you'll get some hydration from the food you're eating, so when dehydrated we often feel hungry. A really great way to recognise this is to notice what you're 'hungry for', I find when I'm dehydrated I crave cereal, probably because of the milk.

Water regulates bodily functions including temperature, joint and tissue protection during exercise, brain function, and circulation to name but a few.

REDUCE INTAKE OF PROCESSED FOODS

Vitamins and minerals are more readily available in whole foods.

Whole foods also tend to have less salt and sugar (and none added) which helps to reduce any inflammatory response to food that you may experience. The chemicals added to processed foods is also a cause of inflammation and irritation in the body.

SWITCH TO WHOLE GRAINS

While it's always a good idea to have a varied diet due to nutrient availability, aiming to get more whole grains in is a great way to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Whole grains are an awesome source of B vitamins (for energy), fibre (happy gut), antioxidants (anti-cancer) and loads of vitamins and minerals (happy body).

INCREASE VEGETABLE INTAKE

While the 5-a-day rule is nice, science shows we should be aiming for 5 portions of veggies, and 2 portions of fruit a day. Both, on the whole, tend to fabulous low calorie sources of vitamins, minerals, fibre, and all the goodies that our bodies just love.

INTRODUCE PRE/PROBIOTICS

Help your gut garden to flourish! Pre- and probiotics help to populate and feed our gut bacteria, which are pivotal for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. Gut health has been directly linked to mental health, skin health, and disease prevention, so definitely a band wagon to jump onto.

Check out my previous blog post on the importance of gut health.

There's so much more to nutrition and diet than macronutrients, following these easy tips will help boost micronutrient intake, improve your digestion and gut health, and make you feel brighter and more energetic.